page_title: Mechelen
section_title: Places of interest
hierarchical_section_title: Mechelen / Places of interest
caption_attribution_description: St. Romboutskathedraal (Mechelen, Belgium)
context_page_description: Mechelen is a city and municipality in the province of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Mechelen proper, some quarters at its outskirts, the hamlets of Nekkerspoel and Battel, as well as the villages of Walem, Heffen, Leest, Hombeek, and Muizen. The Dyle flows through the city, hence it is often referred to as the Dijlestad.
  Mechelen lies on the major urban and industrial axis Brussels–Antwerp, about 25 km from each city. Inhabitants find employment at Mechelen's southern industrial and northern office estates, as well as at offices or industry near the capital and Zaventem Airport, or at industrial plants near Antwerp's seaport.
  Mechelen is one of Flanders' prominent cities of historical art, with Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent, and Leuven. It was notably a centre for artistic production during the Northern Renaissance, when painters, printmakers, illuminators and composers of polyphony were attracted by patrons such as Margaret of York, Margaret of Austria and Hieronymus van Busleyden.
context_section_description: Sint-Romboutskathedraal (St. Rumbold's Cathedral) with its dominating tower (UNESCO World Heritage ID 943-016); the Sint-Janskerk (Church of St. John the Evangelist) exhibits 'The Adoration of the Magi' and the Kerk van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-over-de-Dijle (Church of Our Lady across the river Dijle) 'The Miraculous Draught of Fishes', paintings by Rubens; the domed baroque Basiliek van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-Hanswijk by native architect Lucas Faydherbe, some of whose sculptures can also be found in the cathedral – he was a pupil and leading assistant of Rubens; the baroque Begijnhofkerk (Church of the Beguines, dedicated to St. Alexis and St. Catherine); the former Jesuit church Sint-Pieter en Pauluskerk (Saints Peter and Paul) and the present Jesuit Church of Our Lady of Leliendaal.
  The Brusselpoort, last remaining of the city's twelve gates, 13th century; the Schepenhuis, oldest stone-built city hall in Flanders, historical seat of the 'Grote Raad' (Great Council or Supreme Court), 13th century; the gothic-renaissance Hof van Busleyden where Hieronymus van Busleyden received Erasmus, Thomas More, and the later Pope Adrian VI. These three recently restored buildings together now house the City Museum.
  The Palace of Margaret of York when widowed of Charles the Bold, now the City Theatre; the oldest renaissance building north of the Alps, Palace of Margaret of Austria while as regent of the Netherlands still raising the later Charles Quint, then for centuries the Supreme though now a lower Court of Justice; in one of these palaces, Anne Boleyn was educated for some time as well.
  The Palace of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic province Belgium, still in use for its original purpose by Archbishop De Kesel. These palaces may not be open to the public in general but do offer a good external view.
  The Lakenhal (a cloth hall) and the 14th-century Belfry (UNESCO World Heritage ID 943-015) beside it, form now the City Hall on the main square.
  The Klein Begijnhof and the Groot Begijnhof (UNESCO World Heritage ID 855-003) (Small and Large Beguinages)
  The Vismarkt (former fish market): 16th-century square located in the heart of the city along the river Dijle.
  The Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance in a wing of the former Casern Dossin, built in the 18th century by Queen Maria Theresa of Austria, ruler of the Austrian Netherlands.
  Technopolis, center for hands-on Science and Technology.
  Mechelen Toy Museum at Nekkerspoel
  Planckendael Zoo in Muizen
  The Botanical Garden of Mechelen (Kruidtuin), a city park with marble statue of the 16th-century botanist Rembert Dodoens; Vrijbroek recreational park with around June its outstanding Rose Gardens and in summer its Dahlia Garden; the Tivoli Park with Children's Farm
  Places less accessible or outstanding, or of a more particular interest:
  the Refuge of Grimbergen, the Refuge of Villers, the Refuge of Rozendaal, the Refuge of Sint-Truiden and the Refuge of Tongerlo, retreat mansions for distant abbeys, the latter now housing the Manufacturer De Wit which restores the finest tapestries, for which Flanders was famous in the 16th century.
  't Groen Waterke, a picturesque small remnant of bygone canals – in particular of the Melaan, of which a longer stretch was after more than a century uncovered in 2007.
  A stone pillar De Mijlpaal, now prominent in front of the station, had marked the nearby destination point of the first passenger train ride on the continent. The name was adopted by the railway workers' club for miniature model trains, and by a small museum housed in one of the oldest railroad buildings commemorates the historical event and consequent local industry of national importance.
  The Clock Museum, also known as the Watchmakers' Museum
  The Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" where carillonneurs come from around the world to study the carillon and playing of the instrument. In fine rococo house 'The ship'.
  The grounds of the Theravada Buddhist place of worship Wat Dhammapateep (Temple of the Flame of Truth or Reality as taught by the Enlightened One) has since 2005 housed agreen gran
caption: St. Rumbold's Cathedral
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